Getty Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets and LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Denver Nuggets have retained the core of their 2023 NBA Championship team through free agency, but the losses of Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the last two offseasons, respectively, loom large in a Western Conference that continues to get tougher — especially at the top.
High-level defenders like Caldwell-Pope who also shoot the 3-pointer at a high clip are at a premium across the league, so replacing him in the starting lineup is liable to prove a dubious effort in 2024-25. The Nuggets are betting that third-year guard Christian Braun can elevate into that role and at least occupy it serviceably.
But even if Braun can exceed expectations as Denver’s fifth starter, his absence from the second-unit is unquestionably going to hurt the team’s bench production. There are very few players remaining in free agency or on the trade market who can seriously impact winning in a starting lineup, though there are a handful who may be able to meaningfully enhance the production of a second group.
Enter former MVP Russell Westbrook, currently of the Los Angeles Clippers. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report on Wednesday, July 10, authored a trade pitch in which the Nuggets flip Zeke Nnaji and a second-round pick in 2025 to the Clippers for Westbrook.
“After shipping out Reggie Jackson, the Nuggets have an opening at backup point guard,” Buckley wrote. “Westbrook has his flaws, but on a reasonable contract and in an appropriately sized sixth-man role, he could be a fun fit. A master ball-mover like Nikola Jokic could bring out Westbrook’s best as a downhill attacker, off-ball cutter and transition sprinter.”
Nikola Jokic Has Requested Nuggets Trade for Russell Westbrook
GettyNikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
Westbrook opted into the final year of his contract in L.A, which is worth just north $4 million for the point guard’s age-36 season.
That Westbrook jumped on that deal says two things: first, he is an affordable option to bolster the energy and scoring prowess on the Nuggets’ relatively depleted bench. Second, that his market around the league has all but dried up, as the two-time NBA scoring champion and winner of the 2016-17 Most Valuable Player Award was champing at the bit to play for less than one-third of the league’s standard mid-level exception next season ($12.82 million).
But all it takes is interest from one team or, in the Nuggets’ case, the interest of one player. In this instance that player Jokic, a 3-time MVP and the reigning winner of the honor.
“I’ve been told that Nikola Jokic wants Westbrook in Denver,” Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports reported on July 1. “He wants to play with him.”
Russell Westbrook’s Flaws Make for Bad Fit With Nuggets’ Top Lineups
GettyRussell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Westbrook averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 22.5 minutes of court time across 68 appearances for L.A. last season (11 starts).
He wasn’t incredibly efficient offensively, shooting 45.4% from the field on just under 10 shots per game. However, his 3-point percentage was the glaring blemish on Westbrook’s stat sheet, as he connected on just 27.3% of his 2.3 attempts from behind the 3-point line each game, according to Basketball Reference.
Westbrook’s defense was better than average, as he posted a defensive rating of 113.3. That was 2.8 points better than the league average rating of 116.1.
Westbrook’s energy and effort could certainly offer Denver’s bench a boost, but the question of how well he could fit in with starters remains due to his lack of floor spacing capabilities and need to dominate the basketball to be effective on offense.
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Nuggets Trade Pitch Pairs Former NBA MVP With Current MVP Nikola Jokic